I Wish the Real World Would Just Stop Hassling Me
April has turned out to be a very interesting month in the life of me. A brief overview of the events so far: decided I was going to start looking for a new place, was told that my grant money has run out and I cannot stay at my current job for long, started to consider moving to New York City, took the MCAT, decided life after college stinks. Now, details...
As mentioned, I was interested in finding a new apartment in Boston. My current roommate and I get along alright but I want to live with someone that I can hang out with once in a while (without the TV). She loves TV and watches it all night and sometimes all weekend. Not only does this waste a tremendous amount of electricity (which creates a whole in my wallet and is not good for Mother Earth), but it is not something I can really participate in. Watching TV is a rare occurrence for me and I like it that way. I also don't think we have very much in common. I would like a roommate that I can talk to, go out with, and maybe even have dinner together. As I was contemplating this and trying to figure out how to break the news to her, my supervisor informs me that I have about a month left at my job sine there is no money left to keep me employed. This created a lot of stress in my life because now I had to find a new job, figure out my living situation, and not worry too much about it so that I could study for the MCAT. Jesus Christ.
Although at first I was highly irritated, I later realized "being let go" from my job was a good thing. Prior to this, Casey (from CC) had expressed interest in moving to NYC with me, which I didn't want to do because I didn't want to find a new job. Well, now I HAVE TO find a new job so NYC has become a possibility. This also facilitated discussing with my roommate that I was no longer going to be able to live with her. Furthermore, I was not thrilled about my job. Now, I play the waiting game. I wait until I'm told when my last day will be, I apply to jobs both in Boston and NYC and wait to hear back, and I wait to get my MCAT scores.
Oh yes, MCAT. For those of you who have no idea what the MCAT is, it is an exam for those interested in applying to medical school. I took a Kaplan course last year at Conn and took the test that April. However, as it was my last semester of college, I was quite busy doing things other than studying and preparing for the exam. My score is a reflection of this. Thus, I decided to take the test again. This time around I did a great deal more of studying for a much longer period of time. In fact, I kind of dropped off the face of the earth for a while. When Saturday April 19th rolled around, I took a deep breath, put on my "Smarty Pants" t-shirt, and did the best I could. I had a bit of difficulty finishing the first two sections so I had to guess for some questions. Nevertheless, the MCAT is now over and I can go on with life... for now. I just hope it's the last time I have to take the dreaded exam.
All these events have led me to a realization concerning life after college: it is a time of high variability. Before, we went to school and life was very consistent. We knew in middle school we'd be going to high school; in high school we knew we'd be going college, and after college the only thing we know for sure is that life is uncertain. We move often, we change careers, we go back to school, we go with the flow. Ah, life as a recent grad.
In other news, the weather has been beautiful - a delightful surprise. Rainy days are down with sunny days increasing. The sun is up earlier and goes down later. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, summer is well on its way. Get pumped.
Comments
After years of hard work, I found that the hardest part of college was not actually getting through it alive, or graduation, but actually getting a job. I found it really frustrating that even my own career services department at school was not really able to help me find a career after college.
Since we are all in the same boat here I figured I would Google some sites that could help (like Monster) but everything was for those with more extensive job experience. One website I found was UVisor at www.uvisor.com which seems to be a really solid resource in linking up college students with employers as well as helping us students really figure out our career path. I forget what the statistic was specifically, but I remember it being something like 80% of people do not choose career paths that are pertinent to their majors.
Anyway; definitely check out UVisor or AfterCollege or CollegeGrad (However UVisor is the only free service).
Posted by: Bryan Sawicki | April 30, 2008 4:17 PM